Written by Dr. Jo Britton
It is difficult to imagine a time when Muslim families were not a topic of critical media and public interest in the UK. However, if we look back to the post-World War Two period of migration, the family lives of a pioneering generation of Muslim migrants received little attention. This slowly started to change as family reunification accelerated and Muslim migrant populations became more visible in key areas of settlement.
Growing political concern about accommodating cultural and religious differences was initially muted because, although perhaps surprising now, Muslims were favourably viewed as religiously moderate and law-abiding, as well as family orientated. Successive governments’ dominant multicultural approach to integration included meeting diverse religious needs in an ostensibly secular society, inviting Muslim claims for accommodation and recognition.
One result was a greater focus on problems arising from religious differences, exemplified by what became known as the Honeyford and Rushdie affairs. Increased visibility of the private domain of Muslim family life started to occur through highlighting apparently fraught familial gender and generational relationships. For instance, conflict between generations was identified as a key feature with young Muslims depicted as caught between cultures. Highlighting the associated distinctiveness of Muslim family life became significant in supporting broader influential ideas of an emerging Muslim ‘problem’.
Muslim family life becomes (in)visible
Since the early 21st century, suspicion has increasingly fallen on Muslim family life as a domain in which a problematic culture and identity thrives and supports incompatible beliefs, norms and practices. Changing UK politics of multiculturalism has involved heightened concern about the material and symbolic exclusion of Muslims, with, for instance, the nation described as sleepwalking to segregation.
Alongside this, enhanced securitization has positioned Muslims as a suspect community with Islam increasingly seen as a threat to the British way of life. Family, as a site of primary socialisation, is seen as contributing to related risks, such as ‘home-grown’ radicalisation and terrorism and sexual deviance, among others. Family members are thought to protect offenders and, in turn, a problematic culture and religion, at the expense of demonstrating loyalty to wider societal values.
Informed understanding of Muslim family life is obstructed because this highly partial, problematic knowledge draws on and reinforces familiar, stereotypical understandings of Muslims and Islam. Through a racialized process of (in)visibility, Muslim family life becomes visible, being seen as separate from and encroaching on mainstream society at the same time.
‘Good’ versus ‘problem’ Muslim families
Similarities with non-Muslim families are under-played, while differences are subject to scrutiny and exaggerated. Older and male family members are simultaneously depicted as having too much and too little control, both adhering to rigidly authoritarian, patriarchal principles and abrogating responsibility for the behaviour and welfare of younger and female members. These opposing representations contribute to a binary division between good and problem Muslim families.
Good Muslim families are viewed as integrated through being seen to accommodate dominant family norms and arrangements, whereas problem Muslim families are deemed excessive and culturally incompatible. Placing emphasis on having too much family reinforces the otherness of Muslims and can be seen as a technology of power to control and limit Muslim populations.
Continuing invisibility of Muslim family life
At the same time, Muslim family life remains invisible due to a lack of interest in the changing social and cultural organisation of Muslim families and connected familial relationships. Resulting limited knowledge about the complexity and diversity of Muslim family arrangements contributes to simplistic, and potentially misleading, assumptions that Muslim families adhere to collectivist principles, favour extended arrangements and, as a result, ‘look after their own’.
As well as being convenient in drawing attention away from the impact of structural inequalities on Muslim family life, it has implications for the success of policies designed to tackle forms of disadvantage. For example, evidence indicates that Muslims are disproportionately likely to live in households experiencing poverty and overcrowding, highlighting that the COVID-19 pandemic amplified inequalities experienced by Muslim families, as part of the most disadvantaged communities.
Exploring Muslim family life
Yet little is known about Muslim family life in conditions of poverty and, crucially, from a family perspective. The same applies to the capacity of individuals to care for older family members and those with disabilities. Unpacking hidden social relations of care can shed light on how the fabric and organisation of family life is influenced by the impact of disadvantages accrued over the life course.
There are clearly good reasons to call for the increasing visibility of Muslim family life in research and policy making. Achieving it involves being attentive to how religion and ethnicity, alongside other dimensions of difference, shape family life while taking into consideration the impact of multiple forms of discrimination and inequality. Drawing further attention to Muslim family life is, nonetheless, risky because it potentially invites greater surveillance, control and unwelcome intervention. Increased visibility is welcome providing it leads to better understanding of Muslim families and promotes inclusivity in different areas of social life.
Sociological Studies Research 